Health Blog

Are chronic health problems making you miss work?

If you’re one of the more than 117 million Americans living with chronic health problems, your health may be causing you to miss work or may make it more difficult to do your job. There are a number of steps you can take to better manage chronic health problems, which can improve your overall wellbeing, prevent these problems from becoming worse, and reduce the amount of time you’re out of work due to health issues.

The most common chronic health problems affecting adults in the U.S. include:

Heart disease: More than 27 million people have been diagnosed with heart disease.

Mental health issues: Approximately 1 in 5 adults experiences mental health issues, including depression and anxiety, in a given year, with those problems interfering with life and work for 1 in 25 adults.

Another health issue that causes people to miss work or be less productive at work is dealing with chronic health problems or serious diagnoses like cancer that are affecting family members. When a family member is ill, you may need to take time off to provide care or take them to doctors’ appointments or may find it difficult to focus on work because you’re worried or spending time trying to schedule doctor’s appointments and research treatment options.

What you can do to manage chronic health problems better

If you’ve been diagnosed with a chronic health problem, there are several proactive steps you can take that may help you manage your condition more effectively:

Lifestyle changes: Eating a healthy diet, getting at least 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week, reaching and maintaining a healthy weight, getting an appropriate amount of sleep, and managing stress can help you lower your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels, reduce stress on your back and other joints, and decrease the severity of depression symptoms.

Connect with the right medical specialists: By partnering with a physician who has experience treating the condition or conditions you’ve been diagnosed with, you’ll receive the needed care and guidance to effectively manage your chronic health condition.

Be an active partner in your healthcare: A health advisor can provide you with evidence-based information about your condition and the available treatments so that you can make an informed decision about which option will be most effective for you. It’s also important to talk frankly with your doctor and ask any questions you have about the condition and any proposed treatments. If you feel your doctor is not providing the information you need, consider finding a new one.

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The firm is now allowing its entire adviser force to refer clients to PinnacleCare, which also created a new elder-care assessment… Many advisers feel that dealing with elder-care issues isn’t their responsibility. But as clients age, “you’re going to be doing this whether you want to or not.”

In a time of serious illness, these advocates can help research new treatments that doctors may not know a lot about, cut through the medical bureaucracy, and perhaps help frame medical decisions more objectively than stressed out patients and their family members. Advocates are not just there to help you heal but also to keep you healthy.

— Anne Tergesen, “Your Guide to the Medical Maze”

Consider hiring a private patient advocate… It could help get you the care you need.

— Judy Foreman, “For when a doctor and a nurse just aren’t enough”

“Pinnacle provided me with a name and with research that said, ‘here’s how other people are going it, and here’s who has the most long-term survivors, and here are their stories.’ What I got from that was hope. Not a bad return on investment.”

— Gregory Taggart, “Deluxe Health Care”

“I always thought the medical staff would return phone calls, answer questions and discuss treatment plans and options. I was wrong.” So the family turned to…PinnacleCare for help. Within one day, a doctor on the company’s staff reviewed her mother’s medical records and set up a conference call with a neurosurgeon from Johns Hopkins and a neurologist from Rush University Medical Center, who agreed to take on the case. “We needed someone on our side.”